1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a collision avoidance support device, which is configured to support a driver so that a vehicle avoids collision with an obstacle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there has been known a vehicle including a collision avoidance support device (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-179251).
The collision avoidance support device executes automatic steering control (traveling direction automatic control) which causes a vehicle to avoid colliding with an obstacle when, for example, the obstacle with which the vehicle is highly likely to collide is detected by a camera or/and a radar sensor.
Specifically, the collision avoidance support device of the vehicle travelling on a road firstly calculates an avoidance path through which the vehicle pass to avoid collision with the obstacle. This avoidance path is calculated so that a distance margin, which is a distance to the obstacle in a width direction of the road, is larger than a predetermined distance.
Next, the collision avoidance support device changes steering angles of steered wheels of the vehicle so that the vehicle travels along the calculated avoidance path.
An obstacle may be a moving object or a stationary object.
However, the conventional collision avoidance support device calculates the avoidance path without considering which of a moving object and a stationary object the obstacle is. In other words, a distance margin calculated by the conventional collision avoidance support device when the obstacle is a moving object and a distance margin calculated by the conventional collision avoidance support device when the obstacle is a stationary object are the same as each other.
However, the obstacle being a moving object may moves as time proceeds. In other words, a distance margin at the time when the vehicle passes through the side of the moving object along the avoidance path may be smaller than a distance margin at the time when the collision avoidance support device calculated the avoidance path.
Meanwhile, the obstacle being the stationary object does not move.
Thus, no problem occurs when a distance margin between the avoidance path, which is calculated by the collision avoidance support device, and the obstacle is small.
In other words, when the calculated distance margin is large more than necessary in a case where the obstacle is a stationary object, a turning radius of the vehicle when the vehicle travels along the avoidance path becomes small more than necessary. Thus, the behavior of the vehicle may be unstable more than necessary.